Attachment for meters.



F. B. HAYES.

ATTACHMENT FOR METERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30. I914.

Patented July 13, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET lwi ,lr.

F. B. H'AYES.

ATTACHMENT FOR METERS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30. 1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET Z- 1, 1 Q6304. Patented July 13, 1915.

F. B. HAYES.

ATTACHMENT FOR METERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30. I914.

1,146,704. I Patented July 13, I915.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

' To all whom may concern) v STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

FRED B. HAYES, or roar WAYNE, INDIANA.

n'rrncnmnn'r FOR-METERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1915.

. Application filed November: so, 1914. Serial No. 874,807.

. Be it known that I, FRED B. zen of the United States, residing at Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Meters; and I do hereby declare the following i to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same...

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in attachments for meters and has for its principal object to provide by which-an exact reading may be a device secured. 4 Another object'of the invention is to provide a device1wherein the authorized person inserts a bill or .card and causes the reading of the meter'to be perforated therein, thereby insuring an accurate record.

Another object of the invention is to providea means for locking the device in in--.

operative position when it is not in use.-'

A forating means when A further object of the .invention is .to provide a device which when it is in operative position allows the figures andpointer to' .be easily seen.

' A still further object of the invention is to provide a frame carrying a relatively soft pad, which presses the card against the perimpression he made. I t A more specific object of the inventlon 1s to provlde a means for pressing the pad against the teeth under a relatively heavy,

pressure to insure theproper perforation of the bill or card.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists 'in the novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying'drawings, in which,

' when applied thereto from a side.

' Figure 'l is a fragmentary view of a meter HAYES, a citi-' it is desired that the showing the attachment as it would appear is a vertical sectional view taken, on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sec= tional view taken on line -33. of Fig; 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4: of Fig.1 and showing the device in position to be operated. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional 'view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4. Fig. .fi is a vertical sectional viewtaken on line 6 6 of Fig.2. Fig, 7 view similar to Fig. 6 showing the device in Fig. 2

isa

- its operative position and as it would appear when maklng theimpression; Fig. 8'is ahorizontal sectional vlew showing the arrangement of valves and gearing. Fig. 9

1s a, perspective view of' the frame carryingthe impression pad, and Fig. 10 is 'a detail perspectlve view showing the means for (ffin'cmg the impression pad against the nee- I Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1 designates the meter which is provided with the usual mounted and designated generally by the wall 7, the rear wall 8 which alsoforms'a numeral" 6 and comprises a top and bottom portion of the front wall of the meter 1. Thls rear Wall '8 is for e shafts on which the pointers 3-"are mounted.

vided with suitable needle points 4 which preferably of greater thiclp'iess than the walls 7 to form a bearing The. front wall 9 of the casing 6 is provided with a suitable rectangular side-open ing 10 which is provided with a transparent closure 11 as clearly shown in Fig. '5. A suitable thickened portion 12 is formed at the upper" rear corner of each end-wall of the casing and this portion is provided With a. ground tapered aperture in which the hollow shafts or turningplugs which will be hereinafter more fully described fits. The turning plug or hollow shaft above referred to is best illustrated in Fig. 10 and comprises a hollow cylindrical body 11 which is slightly tapered throughout its entire length and provided at its reduced end with suitable screw threads 12 with which" the nuts 13 cooperate in holding the same in closecontact with the walls of the apertures 1n which the device isjournaled. ,ThlS

cylindrical body is provided withthe diametrically Opposed longitudinal slots 13, the

use of. which will appear as the description proceeds. Formed integrally neareach end of the cylindrical body 11 are the arms 14 which extend in a plane parallelto the axis of the slots and these arm's a're provided suitable upstanding portion 18 is formed intermediate the ends of the lever and is provided with the longitudinal slot 19 which is designed to receive the locking bolt which will be more fully hereinafter described.

A suitable transversely extending clot 20 is formed near each end of the body 11 and these slots are spaced slightly inwardly from the arms 14 and are designed to receive the arms of the inner cylindrical body which will be described in the following paragraph. r I

The inner cylindrical body or turning plug hereinbefore mentioned, is designated by the numeral 21 and tapers throughout its entire length andthis body is provided at its reduced end with the threaded portion 22 which is designed to, receive the nut 23 to hold the device in operative position in the tapered bore formed in the cylindrical body 11. A suitable lever 24 is formed on the body 21 at the end opposite the threaded portion 22 and this lever terminates in the thumb piece '25 by which the same is operated. The upward extension 26 having the longitudinal slot 27 formed therein is formed on the upper edgeof the lever 24 and this slot and extension are arranged to aline with the extension 18 and slot 19 to receive the locking bolt which will be more fully hereinafter described. A suitable longitudinal slot 28 is formed intermediate the ends of the cylindrical body 21 and is arranged to aline with the slot 13 formed in the cylindrical body or turning plug 11 hereinbefore referred to. Extending angu larly and in a plane parallel to the axis of the slot 28 is a rectangular frame designated generally by the numeral 29 which comprises the inner bar 30 and the outer bar 31 which inner and outer bars are connected by the side bars 32. Suitable cars 33 are formed with the outer bar 31 joins the side bars 32 and these ears are provided with the apertures 34, the use of which will appear hereinafter. Suitable offset portions 35 are formed at the oints where the bars 30 joins the bars 32 a d these offset portions are provided with the apertures 36 and are extended as at 37 and secured to the body 21 to f'orr'n a rigid connection between the body and the frame. Extended through the apertures 34 and 36 are the rivets or bolts '38 which areprovided with 'the heads 40 and these bolts extend through the ears 39 formed on pressurepad designated genhold the same in spaced relation to the wall Suitable coil springs 47 surround'thebolts or rivets 38 hereinbefore. referred to and are to exert pressure on the. face of the cars 39 8 when the device is in operative position.

to normally force the body 42 into place in the frame 29. Extending laterally from the end walls of the bodyv 42 are the sockets 48 which are designed to receive the rollers 15 carried by the arms 14 and form a bearing therefor, so that when pressure bears on the arm, the body will remain substantially vertical v In order that the device may be lockedin inoperative position, there is provided the guide 49 in which the locking bolt 50 is slidable, Which .guide is provided with the upstanding ear 51 having formed therein the central aperture 52 which meshes with the aperture 53 formed in the ear 54- carried by the locking bolt. The forward end of this lockingbolt is adj acently extended as at 26, respectively, which are in turn respectively formed on the levers 16 and 44. When the device "is locked, the bolt is turned through the alining slots-and a suitable pad-' lock 56 is arranged so that its-shackle-57 passes through the apertures 51 and-53 and thereby prevents the bolt from being withdrawn when the lock is unlocked.

It' will be apparent from the: foregoing when it is desired to take the meter reading, the authorized person unlocks the padlock and slides the bolt 50 into unlocked position whereupon he swings the arm 24 downwardly until the same stops whereupon the stop 45 abuts the stops 46 andhold the The card or frame in operative position. bill is then inserted through the alining slots 28 and 13' so that it passes in the card receptacle 58 which is secured to'th'e body 42 and is provided with the flared mouth 59 which acts as a guide. After the card has been forced inwardly as far as possible, the

lever 16 is then pressed which will cause the I body 11 to rotate and thereby swing the arms 14, thus forcing the body 42 and card holder 58 toward the n'eedle'pointsso that y the needle points will penetrate the card or bill and partially enter the soft material 44 which forms the back support therefor. The.

movement of the second lever is against the pressure of the springs 47 and as soon as the operator removes his thumb from the thumb piece 17 of the lever 16 it will be apparent that the said lever will spring outwardly into the position shown in Fig. 5 thereby removing the card from the needle points and placingthe same in such a position as to permit to be removed. The bill or card is then removed and it will be clearly seen that an accurate record is made which will remove any apprehension on the part of the consumer that the meter is not read correctly and thereby insure the public of strict honesty when dealingwith public service corporations. It is also apparent that with the use of such a device, the public service corporations will not be troubled with complaints from dissatisfied consumers, as a positive record may always be obtained and there is obviously no danger of misreading the meter. a

While in the foregoing there has beenshown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as will fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

rotate the plugs to their operative and in-.

operative positions.

. 2. In combination, a meter, needles forming the characters and pointers of the meter, a casing secured to the meter, a turning plug journaled in said casing, said plug tapering throughout its entire length, and being provided with a tapered aperture throughout its entire length, means to cause the tapered plug to bind against the walls of the aperture through which it extends in the casing, a second tapered plug rotatable within the first mentioned plug, both plugs being provided with alining slots and both plugs being designed to form fluid tight joints to prevent any .leakage when in their closed position, means carried by the turning plug to force a bill against the needles and thereby take an impression of the reading of the meter, and means on the interior of the easing to operate the device.

3. In combination, a meter, needles forming the characters and pointers of said meter, a casing secured to the meter, turning plugs in the casing, said turning plugs extending beyond one end of the casing, levers secured to the extensions of the turning plugs, a frame carried by one of the turning plugs, a pad carried by the other turning plug,

spring means holding the frame and pad.

normally against each other, and means to force the pad inwardly against the needles.

4.- In combination, a meter, needles forming the characters and pointer for said meter, a casing secured to the meter, said casing being provided with a pair of opposite apertures, one of which is of less diameter than the other, a tapered plug within the aper-.

turesand arranged .to rotate therein, said plug being provided with tapered bore throughout its entire length, a second plug extending into the tapered plug, the second plug being tapered, means to hold the plugs in their respective aperture, levers on the enlarged ends of the plugs, said levers being disposed externally of the casing, means to cause the plugs to form a fluid tight joint within the casing, a frame carried by the first mentioned plug, a stop on the frame arranged to project laterally therefrom, a stop within the casing and arranged to engage the first mentioned stop 'to hold the frame vertical, rivets extending through the frame, a pad, a rivet extending through the pad, springs interposed between the ends of the rivets and the pad to hold the same against the frame, and means carried by the internal plug to force the pad inwardly and against the needles to cause the same to make an impression on a bill when the meter is being read.

CLARENCE A. S'rn-m. 

